Cabinet



Nov. 10, 1942.

W. J. CONWELL CABINET Filed Aug. 7, 1940 wlliamzl onwell,

Patented Nov. 10, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CABINET William J. Conwell, Elwood, Ind., assignor to G. 1. Sellers &Sons, 00., Elwood, Ind., a corporation of Indiana 1 Claim.

This invention relates to cabinets, more particularly of the type forhousehold use, such as kitchen cabinets.

Cabinets of the type above referred to, in many cases, include a shelf,table or cupboard portion having utensil or storage drawers beneath thesame and shelving covered by doors at the top. In order that the doorscovering the shelving may not interfere with free use of the shelf ortable portion, a space is provided at the rear thereof and below thedoors which conveniently permits of the storage of small articles forkitchen use such as condiment holders, cans, boxes and the like.Frequently these articles present a disordered appearance when viewingth cabinet from the front, and for the purpose of not only concealingthese articles from view but also utilizing this space as a covered orprotected storage compartment, it is desirable that the same be providedwith a closure. From the nature of the particular article of furniture,th closure must be mounted for operation so as not to interfere with thefree use of the shelf or table, and, at the same time, it must alsoclear articles stored at the rear of the shelf.

Accordingly, the present invention has primarily in view a kitchencabinet wherein the space between the upper shelving closed by doors andthe Work table or shelf is made into a compartment which may be openedand closed by providing a door mounted to be swung to closed position toprovide a neat and finished appearance to the cabinet and, at the sametime, shield and enclose articles stored at the back of the shelf, and,on the other hand, which may be readily lifted to an out-of-the-wayposition to provide access to the compartment and also clear the workingspace on the shelf for unobstructed use.

Other objects may appear as the description proceeds.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a cabinet embodying the presentimprovements and showing the closure constituting the present inventionin open position.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the compartment with the doorclosed.

Referring to the drawing, the cabinet is provided with the shelf, table,or work surface including the front portion A and the rear portion A.The portion A is preferably elevated above the front surface A by beingsupported upon the 55 molding or filler strip A Below the combined shelfsurface AA, that is, in the base of the cabinet, suitable utensil orstorage drawers B may be provided while above th surface AA is an upperstorage space closed at its sides by the cabinet side walls C, at itsback by the cabinet rear wall E, at its bottom by the shelf portion A,and at its front by the vertically hinged doors D. The space between thesaid upper storage space and the work shelf or table portion Aconstitutes an open front compartment E which is formed by the saidcabinet side walls C, the back wall E, the shelf or table portion A andthe bottom E of the upper storage area.

The open-front of the compartment E has associated therewith a closurein the form of a flat door F whose longitudinal dimension isco-extensive with the distance between the inner faces of the side wallsC of the cabinet, and whose vertical dimension is greater than theheight of the open-front of said compartment between the filler strip Aand the lower edge G of the apron which extends below the upper doors D.As will be apparent from Fig. 2, the lower edge I of the door F is madeto fiushly rest on the strip A when the door is in a vertically disposedclosed position. The upper edge of the door is bevelled upwardly andinwardly as indicated at 2 to flushly engage when the door is closed,with a complemental bevelled surface 3 inclining upwardly and inwardlyfrom the lower edge G of the apron pre viously referred to.

For the purpose of mounting the door F for convenient swinging movementbetween its vertically disposed closed position and an out-of-the- Waysubstantially horizontally disposed open position, as shown in thedotted lines in Fig. 2, suitable hinge means is provided. As shown, thishinge means preferably comprises a pair of brackets 4 disposedrespectively adjacent to opposite sides of the door and each having aflange 5 secured to the inner face of the door by suitable fastenings.The rear ends of the brackets 4 are mounted on related fixedhorizontally disposed pivot; pins 6 supported by related brackets 1secured to the inner faces of the related side walls C of the cabinet bysuitable fastenings 8. The pivot pins 6 are located at points withrespect to the door F and with respect to the door opening at the frontof the compartment E so that when the door is swung to its verticallydisposed closed position it enters said opening and when it is swung toits substantially horizontally disposed open position, as determined byengagement of its lower portion with the aforesaid edge G, it has anout-of-the-way location at the top of the compartment E in which it isoverbalanced inwardly against accidentally dropping to its closedposition. In other words, the distance between the pivot pins 6 and thelower outer corner of the door is greater than the distance between saidpivot pins and the aforesaid edge G whereby, when the door is swungopen, its lower, outer face engages the said edge G and the latterthereby constitutes a stop limiting opening swinging movement of thedoor. Moreover, the door, when open, has a major portion of its weightdisposed rearwardly of a vertical plane including the axes of the pivotpins 6 whereby it is maintained open by gravity. Suitably fastenedagainst the lower, outer face of the door is a hand-grip element 9 foruse in swinging the door between its closed and open positions.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present inventionprovides a kitchen cabinet including simple and practical closure meansat the front of a compartment formed by the upper and lower storagecabinet for the two-fold purpose of protecting and concealing thecontents of the compartment. By elevating the rear surface A' by thefiller or molding A the lower edge of the door 1 will not come too closeto the surface A in moving fro-m one position to another and thus notinterfere with knives, spoons or the like lying close to the bottom edgeof the door. Also by reason of the mating bevelled edges 2 and 3, atight joint will be formed with the apron.

I claim:

A kitchen cabinet comprising a front wall having a door opening, a fiatdoor for said opening, brackets fixed to said door at opposite sidesthereof intermediate its top and bottom edges and extending rearwardlytherefrom, and fixedly located horizontal pivot pins pivotally mountingsaid brackets at points spaced rearwardly from the door and therebypivotally mounting said door for swinging movements between a verticallydisposed closed position and a generally horizontally disposed openposition adjacent to the top of the door opening, the edge of said frontwall at the top of said door opening and the upper edge of said doorbeing inclined up- J wardly and inwardly and said pivot pins beinglocated at points with respect to said door and with respect to saiddoor opening so that when the door is swung to its vertically disposedclosed position it enters said opening, the distance between said pivotpins and the lower outer corner of the door being greater than thedistance between said pivot, pins and the edge of said front walldefining the top of said door opening so that when the door is swung toits open position its lower portion engages said front wall edge and thelatter thereby constitutes a stop to limit opening swinging movement ofthe door, said door when in open position having a major portion of itsweight disposed rearwardly of a vertical plane including the pivotalaxes of said brackets, whereby it is maintained open by gravit y WILLIAMJ. CONW'ELL.

